New at raising chicks and I have a couple of questions

[10xmama]

I use ACV. You must have the raw one with "the mother" in it. I have seen its benefits in people health ... so it makes sense that it helps livestock too. I have found Heinz sells a bottle of raw ACV at my Walmart ... and our regular grocery store carries the Braggs brand. For the first two weeks of life I mixed a chick starter powder into their water (this was suggested by the hatchery I bought from) ... I used grow gel plus for the first few hours after I got them home as an immediate starter. .... then I went to the unmedicated chic grower feed and water with ACV in it.

There are lots of threads around here that explain the benefits of ACV ... look into what it does for people too. Don't bother with the processed one ... it's missing a lot of the benefits.

 

[Percheron chick]

You can always find organic apple cider vinegar at a natural food store if your grocery stores do not carry it.

 

[Michael Apple]

Apple cider vinegar has no benefit for baby chicks, and very little benefit besides being a natural antibacterial. Using it in young chicks upsets the balance of microflora developing in the digestive system. The best thing one can do for their chicks is use a probiotic in their diet. Do not use yogurt since the calcium content is too high. Use a vitamin-electrolyte and extracted probiotic like Probios in the water. Always follow label directions as each are specific to that product. In addition to probiotics, a high quality feed like this is the most important:

KING BRAND
ORGANIC CHICK START
& GROW CRUMBLES
______________________________________________________________________________________
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein, not less than..........…………………………...................22.0%
Lysine, not more than…………………………………………………..……1.0%
Methionine, not less than……………………………………………………0.4%
Crude Fat, not less than................................…………………………......2.5%
Crude Fiber, not more than......................……………………………........5.0%
Ash, not more than………………………………..……………………..……8.0%
Calcium, not less than..............................……………………………........0.8%
Calcium, not more than.............................…………………………….......1.2%
Phosphorus, not less than...........................……………………………....0.6%
Sodium, not more than..............................……………………………......0.3%
_________________________________________________________________________________
INGREDIENTS
Organic Soybean Meal, Organic Wheat, Organic Corn, Ground Limestone, Organic Flaxseed, Monocalcium &
Dicalcium Phosphate, Diatomaceous Earth, Mineral Sea Salt (Redmond), DL Methionine, Hydrolyzed Yeast,
Brewers Dried Yeast, Calcium Carbonate, Organic Garlic Granules, Organic Horseradish Powder, Organic Star
Anise Oil, Organic Juniper Berry Oil, Reed Sedge Peat, Calcium Bentonite, Choline Chloride, Manganese
Oxide, Niacin Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate,
Vitamin A Supplement, D-Biotin, Riboflavin Supplement, Tribasic Copper Chloride, Vitamin B-12 Supplement,
Vitamin D3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Dimethyl Pyrimidinol Bisulfate (Source of
Vitamin K activity), Ethylene Diamine Dihydroiodide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite.
______________________________________________________
FEEDING DIRECTIONS
1. Feed Organic Chick Start & Grow Crumbles free choice as the sole ration to growing chickens.
2. Store Organic Chick Start Crumbles in a cool, dry area. Never feed moldy or insect-infested feeds.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
You are correct.

I don't use it personally. Many health food stores and Amazon.com.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/636389/acv-with-mother

 

[loveourbirds]

before i start, i don't believe in modern medicine as much as i maybe should. when you separate out the "good components" you normally don't get everything that's good. i also believe that for every ailment there exists a cure in nature.

using acv with chicks can be good or bad. i wont use it unless i have had pasty butt. i will give sugar water for 3 days, acv one dose then a small amount of yogurt. a small amount of sugar, acv or yogurt is good for the chicks, to much of anything is harmful. the sugar water helps keep them from dehydrating, and gives them a small energy boost. the acv aids in absorption. if your having to add vitamins to the water, the acv will make them more available. the yogurt has by far better probiotics than anything on the market, but the calcium in it is a little strong and bad for young cockerel chicks. but the acv aids in dissolving the calcium making it pass through the system easier. (need proof? put an egg in acv for a couple of days and see what happens)

a time does exist when you should use acv on a regular basis. if your water ph is above 7.5 you can use acv to lower the p.h. and balance your birds out. most studies indicate a 6.5 ph is pretty good.

as the birds get older say 10 weeks, i start mixing about 1/3 cup acv in 5 gallons of water once a week. (tablespoon per gallon is close enough) this helps reduce respiratory infection in flocks. with a flock of 30 birds or so, free ranging you may not find this necessary.

keep in mind my birds are caged as breeding pairs and trios. they only get to range about once a week. a bird who is free ranging all the time typically does not have as many problems.

there is so much proof on fermenting feeds, I'm starting to do it myself. doing this, i probably will not give the acv in the water. after this week.

 

[Sharon Bee]

Thank you everyone. I'm going over to my little country store today to buy the chick food. I hope it's organic. I'll let you know what kind it is.
Also ....do snakes eat chicks? I noticed a big garter snake near our garage with a big toad in its mouth! My chicks will be in the garage. Now I'm worried.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I have read here that the store kind isn't what to use. We are to use raw organic ACV. Correct? I have the kind of course you can buy in a store.

You will likely get eleventy one different opinions about vinegar, probiotics, organics, whatever. You eventually have to decide for yourself what you want to do.

I've brooded as many chicks without using vinegar as I have with it. I do use it, but primarily because it deters the growth of slime (bio-film) in the waterers and eliminates the lime build up that occurs. It MAY have other uses, but those are the ones that I can see and verify for myself.

I've done pro-biotics. Could not discern a whit of difference between the chicks I used it with and the ones I did not all other conditions being equal. I don't do organics. Organic feed runs twice or more the price of conventional feed so I don't see the benefit.

Brood out your chicks and keep an open mind. There are as many ways to get the job done as there are people to do it. So long as you end up with healthy, well-grown birds the method isn't so important. Over time you'll jettison what is frippery.

 

[cmom]

Thank you everyone. I'm going over to my little country store today to buy the chick food. I hope it's organic. I'll let you know what kind it is.
Also ....do snakes eat chicks? I noticed a big garter snake near our garage with a big toad in its mouth! My chicks will be in the garage. Now I'm worried.

Yes, snakes will eat chicks. My brooder is made with ½ x ½ " wire which I know no snake can get into. The other day my DH saw a Black Racer in our garage where we keep our brooder and I'm willing to bet it was there to check out the chicks. I went out opened the doors and went around any place I thought it might be able to hide and made a ruckus and poked and kicked anything just to drive it out but I didn't see it, not to say it slipped out without me seeing it.

 

[ButchGood]

Yes, snakes will eat chicks. My brooder is made with ½ x ½ " wire which I know no snake can get into. The other day my DH saw a Black Racer in our garage where we keep our brooder and I'm willing to bet it was there to check out the chicks. I went out opened the doors and went around any place I thought it might be able to hide and made a ruckus and poked and kicked anything just to drive it out but I didn't see it, not to say it slipped out without me seeing it.

A 4 week old Turkey poult and the culprit. Yes Snakes think chicks are tastey

 

[sanmar4chickens]

I am getting my new babies next week. I have my brooder all ready to go in our garage with heat lamp as our nights are still chilly. My questions are: should I add ACV to the water when they first arrive or should I add it at a later time? I don't have the raw ACV so will ordinary ACV do? Thanks for any advice.

I am a new egg also, taking care of 4 chicks for 4 weeks and they are still alive. I read about the ACV and I did purchase some to give to the chicks. I have noticed that sometimes they peck and eat some of the pine shavings and peck at their poop. So ACV, is a good idea for me.

I advice you to get different wattage of bulbs for your lamp, to scale down if the 250 watt gets to hot and you need to be able to raise the distance of the lamp to the brooder. Also buy a red bulb for the lamp, we had a reg bulb then switched to red and the chicks slept better and were calm.

Keep the brooder clean, I clean their poop everyday and during the day. Keep the water clean also.

Also be prepared for the chicks to take a big chunk of your time. I don't know how many chicks you are getting that will also determine the amount of time you will spend caring for them.

Food-- well my opinion is that whatever you are putting "into" your chickens you will be putting "into" your body. Consider why you will be raising chicks and how you feel about the organic, gmo, antibiotics, vaccine, concerns.

It's what I've learned and my experience. Have Fun.